RCMP and 6 other police forces permitting female members to wear hijabs

[The Mounties developed a hijab, which covers the head and neck but not the face, for female members of the force who want to wear one on duty. RCMP]

The Mounties have made an allowance for the hijab, the Muslim female head cover.

Scott Bardsley, spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, told CBC News that RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson recently approved an addition to the uniform policy, saying that the force is “a progressive and inclusive police service that values and respects persons of all cultural and religious backgrounds.”

The only other cultural or religious item allowed on the force is the turban, for male members of the Sikh faith to wear — following a fight by Baltej Singh Dillon. The federal government ended the ban in 1990.

The RCMP developed a hijab — which covers the head and neck but not the face — for female members of the force who want to wear one on duty.

The Canadian Navy beat the RCMP by 20 years. Wafa Dabbagh, now a Lt.-Commander, was the first member of the Canadian military to wear a hijab when she joined in 1996.

The Mounties are not the only service to permit the Hijab:

Police in Scotland announced on Aug. 24 it would permit hijabs to get rid of “unnecessary barriers” for applications from Asian and black candidates. Previously, officers could only wear the religious headscarf if they got approval from a supervisor. (Photo: Getty Images)

More than 10 years ago, the Metropolitan Police in London introduced the headscarf to its force. (Source: BBC News)

Back in 2011, Sweden welcomed its first recruit who wore a headscarf — Donna Eljammal, 26, at the time. It took five years since the ban on police recruits wearing a kippa, a veil or a turban as part of their regular uniform, was lifted. Currently there are no bans on religious headscarves for police in Sweden. (Source: Pitea Tidningen)

In 2011, the Toronto Police Service opened the doors for members to wear the hijab while in uniform in an effort to actively recruit minority candidates from the Muslim community. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

And then in 2013, the Edmonton Police Service decided to become more inclusive as well. At the time, no members within EPS who had requested to wear a hijab but in a statement, the force said it wanted to “reflect the changing diversity in the community, and to facilitate the growing interest in policing careers from Edmonton’s Muslim community.” (Photo: Edmonton Police Service)

A couple of jurisdictions around the United States allow for officers to don the hijab. In 2014, Khadra Mohamed became the first Somali-American woman to join the St. Paul Police Department in Minnesota and thus became the first officer to wear the hijab. The Washington, D.C., police also permits the hijab. (Source: Christian Action Network)